Nocturnal Leg Cramps:Can They Be Prevented?

For most people, nocturnal leg cramps are an occasional painful nuisance.

However, there are those unfortunate people who have chronic night leg cramps.

If you frequently have muscle cramps in your legs or feet, and
are looking for proven ways to prevent them, there's not much help in
the scientific literature.

Let's take a look at what the research shows.

Danger! Quinine for nocturnal leg cramps

Quinine has often been prescribed by doctors for nighttime leg
cramps. But there are serious dangers with using quinine that you need
to know about.

On December 11, 2006, and then updated in 2009, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) in the United States issued a press release about
the serious hazards associated with quinine.

Here's what the FDA wrote:

"Since 1969, FDA has received 665 reports of adverse events with
serious outcomes associated with quinine use, including 93 deaths.
Quinine drugs are associated with serious side effects, such as cardiac
arrhythmias, thrombocytopenia (a decrease in blood platelets that can
cause hemorrhage or clotting problems), and severe hypersensitivity
reactions. There is also the potential for serious interactions between
quinine drugs and other drugs, and there are conditions under which
quinine should not be used.

"As part of its action, FDA is also cautioning consumers about
off-label use of quinine to treat leg cramps. Quinine is approved for
treatment of malaria, but is also commonly prescribed to treat leg
cramps and similar conditions. Because malaria is life-threatening, the
risks associated with quinine use are justified for that condition. But
because of the drug's risks, FDA believes it should not be used to
prevent or treat leg cramps."

On top of that, the health hazards of taking quinine include:
tinnitus (buzzing in the ears), fever, blurry vision, pruritus (severe
itching of the skin), digestive ailments, headaches, and dizziness.

For pregnant women, nocturnal leg cramps are common. Taking
quinine is risky however. Quinine is a teratogen, meaning it can
interfere with the development of the fetus and cause birth defects.

Two final notes about quinine

First, the amounts of quinine in tonic water are trivial and probably
harmless. There also is not enough quinine in tonic water to have a
significant positive effect on your cramps.

Secondly, an excellent research paper in the March 2005 British Journal of General Practice had this to say:

"Quinine is commonly used as a treatment for night cramps but
there are doubts about its effectiveness and it has potential side
effects. Advising those on long-term repeat prescriptions to try
stopping quinine temporarily will result in no major problems for
patients, and allow a significant number to stop medication."

If you've visited online forums for people with leg
cramps at night, you'll notice many people recommending to others on the forum
that they should try quinine. I hope I've given you good reasons why
that is bad advice.

Now let's look at other treatments that have been suggested or
researched for preventing nocturnal leg cramps and see how effective
they are.

Vitamin E for night leg cramps

Though vitamin E is an important nutrient, there is no evidence in the
medical literature to show that vitamin E supplements provide any relief
for nocturnal leg cramps.

What about magnesium and calcium?

Magnesium is an awesome nutrient and useful for sleep, but what about night leg cramps?

You often see it recommended for cramps. Yet the medical
literature shows no significant difference between taking magnesium or
taking a placebo (fake pill) in terms of preventing the severity,
frequency, or duration of night cramps.

A June 2011 research paper in The Journals of Gerontology
concluded this: “Although oral magnesium is widely marketed to older
adults for the prophylaxis [prevention] of leg cramps, our data suggest
that magnesium therapy is not indicated for the treatment of rest cramps
in a geriatric population.” (Nocturnal leg cramps are sometimes
referred to as rest cramps in the medical literature.)

Still, most people are not getting enough magnesium in their
diets. And because it's such a vital nutrient, supplements may be
beneficial to take for your overall health.

As for pregnant women, there is some evidence that magnesium may
be helpful for nighttime leg cramps. Calcium may also help, although the
studies show mixed results, from some improvement to no improvement.
Pregnant women should consult with their doctors before taking either of
these substances.

People with kidney disease should also consult their doctors
before taking magnesium supplements. In fact, everyone needs to keep
their doctor informed of whatever supplements and herbs they're taking.

Compression hosiery

There aren't any good studies showing whether these types of socks
provide leg cramp relief or prevent leg cramps. They may work for you or
they may not. You never know until you try them.

Pain relieving medications for leg cramps

I could not find anything in the medical literature about using pain
killing drugs for prevention of leg cramps. Besides, by the
time you take a pain pill for the cramping, the cramp will most
likely have gone away.

Preventing nocturnal leg crampswith calf-stretching exercises?

You would think that daily stretching of the calf muscles would be a good idea to prevent leg cramps.

But the evidence of its effectiveness just isn't there. In the
same paper I mentioned above from the British Journal of General
Practice, researchers stated bluntly that after 12 weeks of their study,
"calf-stretching exercises are not effective in reducing the frequency
or severity of nocturnal leg cramps."

So what can be done to relieve the pain of nocturnal leg cramps?

I haven't brought you a lot of good news about preventing leg cramps.
Sorry, don't shoot the messenger! Facts are facts and there just isn't a
lot of scientific information out there on how to prevent leg cramps.

So what can you do about night leg cramps?

Start with the article below on leg pain at night. I've given you
16 options to try, and the first 5 options are in that article.